- Title: The robot that teaches itself to roller skate
- Date: 8th August 2019
- Summary: ZURICH, SWITZERLAND (MAY 2019) (REUTERS) SKATERBOT MOVING AROUND IN FRONT OF CHILDREN CHILDREN WATCHING SKATERBOT SKATERBOT MOVING AROUND SKATERBOT DEVELOPER USING SKATERBOT CONTROLLER SKATERBOT DEVELOPER CONTROLLING SKATERBOT/ SKATERBOT MOVING AROUND IN FRONT OF CHILDREN VARIOUS OF SKATERBOT MOVING AROUND IN FRONT OF CHILDREN SKATERBOT DEVELOPERS WATCHING SKATERBOT, ONE CONTROLLING IT/ SKATERBOT MOVING AROUND IN FRONT OF CHILDREN (SOUNDBITE) (English) ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AT DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE, ETH ZURICH, STELIAN COROS, SAYING: "Legs are very good for environments that have stairs or other types of obstacles and wheels are great for flat ground. The challenge is that when you make robots like these they also become very difficult to program because they can move in very complicated ways and so we are developing new types of computer algorithms that allow these robots to figure out how to move entirely on their own." VARIOUS OF SKATERBOT MOVING AROUND (SOUNDBITE) (English) ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AT DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE, ETH ZURICH, STELIAN COROS, SAYING: "But there is a computer model that mimics some of the key ingredients that happen in the real world in terms of the dynamics and physical behaviour and within these simulated environments, the robot understands how to move, it understands how to optimise its movements to be able to achieve a certain goal and then once it's figured these motions out in simulation we can just execute them in the real world and they transfer over quite well." SKATERBOT MOVING IN ROLLERBLADE MOTION (SOUNDBITE) (English) ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AT DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE, ETH ZURICH, STELIAN COROS, SAYING: "So this robot figured out how to do rollerblading motions without us having to program it, without us having to tell it what a rollerblade is or have it watch videos of people do it. And so this for us was a test to see if we create a robot that no one else has created before, if it is able to figure out how to move in an appropriate way given its design." VARIOUS OF SKATERBOT MOVING AROUND (SOUNDBITE) (English) ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AT DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE, ETH ZURICH, STELIAN COROS, SAYING: "Well robots like these in the future can have a variety of applications. For example in search and rescue applications or autonomous delivery. So these types of applications will require robots to be able to go out in the real world, definitely know how to move around and navigate around obstacles and ultimately achieve goals that people care about."
- Embargoed: 22nd August 2019 10:27
- Keywords: Robot robots which can roller skate and ice skate Skaterbot ETH Zurich technology
- Location: ZURICH AND DAVOS, SWITZERLAND/ ANIMATION
- City: ZURICH AND DAVOS, SWITZERLAND/ ANIMATION
- Country: Switzerland
- Topics: Science
- Reuters ID: LVA001ARCYI57
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Academics in Switzerland have created a robot which can teach itself to walk, roller skate and even ice skate.
Skaterbot, developed at the department of computer science at ETH Zurich, can perform a complex number of moves using its agile legs.
Parts are 3D printed in what assistant professor Stelion Coros has called "LEGO for scientists."
The robot utilises artificial intelligence technology. This means it can understand its own physical parameters and once given an objective - such as reaching a specific location across varied terrain - can work out how to get there.
"We are developing new types of computer algorithms that allow these robots to figure out how to move entirely on their own," Coros told Reuters.
"It understands how to optimise its movements to be able to achieve a certain goal and then once it's figured these motions out in simulation, we can just execute them in the real world," he added.
The robot can be seen moving forward on four wheels, eight wheels and across ice on small ice skates. Its wave-like foot movement on ice is similar to the feet of a human ice skater when skating backwards.
The hope is the technology can be used for search and rescue along with the delivery of parcels. Academics are also working to help robots greater understand their worlds.
"We want to work towards robots that are increasingly more autonomous. So they know not only how to do something but also why they should be doing it," Corros said.
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